UNFORTUNATELY two penalty decisions went against us to end Accrington Stanley's winning run.

The first was awarded against us in the home match with Wakefield and Emley when Barry Shuttleworth was adjudged to have handled the ball when actually it struck the bar.

The second incident came when Lutel James was brought down in the penalty area at Ashton United but no penalty was given.

Both decisions were dubious to say the least and, before anybody accuses me of being biased, I have to add that I thought both referees had good games - honestly!

I'm sorry to have to inform all my refereeing friends that Mr Wareing, the referee in the game against Wakefield and Emley, did nothing to change my opinion of the men in the middle.

After the match he admitted he may have been wrong in his decision to send off Barry Shuttleworth, however his report to the FA arrived last week with no mention of this.

As a result Barry will have to serve a suspension.

It looks like Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, is determined to take all the common sense out of refereeing, and every decision must be right.

Some people will say the officials are always right, and I know from experience that some referees will never admit they are wrong.

Admittedly they are not all like that, it is just a shame that you can't drop them like players when they make mistakes!

I could go on for hours about referees but I have said enough for the time being. I just can't wait to see who the next referee will be.

Ramsbottom United, who play at the Riverside next to the cricket ground, are having a bad time at the moment but I am sure that Harry Williams will sort it out.

Ramsbottom have risen from the local leagues to the first division of the North West Counties League, and were unlucky not to get among the honours last season.

If anybody wants to see how a semi-pro club should be run they should take a trip down to Ramsbottom and see what Harry and his hard working committee have achieved in such a short period of time.

The facilities are impressive and the hospitality amongst the best. Good luck to new manager Andy Grimshaw for the rest of the season.

There are a lot of non-League clubs in the East Lancs area and most of them are run very well with hard working committees.

People will always look at results to judge a club's success, but this does not always indicate how well the clubs are run.

Many local clubs are run to a very tight budget and have to ensure that the club survives long after the current squad has moved on.

Last week when we played Billingham in the FA Cup we had no fewer than 10 scouts from Football League clubs at the game. This just goes to show that clubs do not always pay millions for their players.

Luckily Accrington have been drawn at home against Harrogate Town in the FA Cup third qualifying round on Saturday. If we can win this tie then there is one more round to go before the first round proper, and the chance of being drawn against a Football League side.